The date, September 27th 1998, Roy Halladay, in his second career start as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays, pitched a masterful performance, bringing a no hitter into the ninth inning, against the Detroit Tigers.
Halladay’s first possible career no hitter was tarnished by than Detroit Tiger Bobby Higginson on a solo home run with two outs in the ninth inning.
Tonight, September 4th 2009 was close to the exact same occurrence on the past date.
I was personally in attendance at Toronto’s home game against the American League East leading New York Yankees tonight.
Without a doubt of any attendees mind, Halladay pitched exceptionally against the American League’s most potent offense, in a 6-0 Toronto Blue Jays victory.
Halladay, who has been awful in his last three starts, posting an 0-3 record, with an earned run average of 7.94, was determined to save the Blue Jays franchise some face and pride as they have been stumbling as of late, with a 59-74 record coming into tonight’s game.
Roy “Doc” Halladay had a perfect game into the fifth inning when he walked Yankee catcher Jorge Posada.
Halladay did not let the walk faze him as he continued with his no hit bid.
With Toronto Blue Jay fans, desperate for satisfaction from their local franchise, cheering along Halladay on his no hit bid, rookie call up Ramiro Pena, the Yankees number nine hitter (filling in for Derek Jeter at shortstop) stepped up to the plate.
Pena doubled off Halladay to right fielder Travis Snider, ending the possibility of Roy Halladay’s first ever no hit pitching performance in the Major Leagues.
The double rattled Halladay, as he walked both former Blue Jay Eric Hinskie and $180 million dollar man Mark Teixiera to load the bases for the ever-impactful Alex Rodriguez.
Halladay locked in and struck out the dangerous Rodriguez with a vintage Halladay moving fastball on the inside corner.
From here on in, Halladay continued his Rembrandt-esque masterpiece completely annihilating the potent New York Yankee offense for a complete game, one hit shutout, and the second of Halladay’s outstanding career.
Roy Halladay proved tonight why he is one of the most elite starting pitchers of this generation, by pitching a masterful performance even after struggling in his last three starts.
It just goes to show that hard work and dedication, while sticking to a strict analysis of your opponent can better even the likes of the best team in all of Major League baseball.
I personally wrote an article two days ago titled “Jays Becoming Hard to Watch” for Gear Up for Sports,http://bluejays.gearupforsports.com/blog/2009/09/jays-becoming-hard-to-watch/
After tonight’s performance, no matter what the Jays record, I will always be a viewer in utter awe of a genius such as Roy Halladay, as he shows the fans of Toronto Blue Jays baseball why he is already deserving of the title of “One of the Best Blue Jays of All Time”.
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